Three days to the elections: The parties are in the final stretch of the election campaign until the polls open on Tuesday, and are continuing with last-minute measures in an attempt to increase their power base. Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Avigdor Lieberman, participated today (Saturday) in the “Shabbartu” event in Be’er Sheva and commented on the possibility of entering a coalition together with the ultra-Orthodox. He also attacked the Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz and the prime minister, Yair Lapidand said that “they will give everything to the ultra-Orthodox”.
At the beginning of the conversation, he addressed the issue of boycotts, and the lack of readiness of his party to sit in a coalition with the ultra-orthodox factions. According to Lieberman, “to sit down with someone who wants to be finance minister in the next government, Yitzhak Goldknopf, who says that ‘the poor work much harder than combat soldiers on the front and they deserve all the tax benefits’, that ‘subjects like math and English do not contribute to the economy’, I don’t see how it is possible to sit down with this person, what are we going to talk about with him? He wants another three billion shekels for an education system that perpetuates ignorance. There is no common denominator, it’s not a matter of boycotts.”
After that, he addressed the defense minister’s claim that he has the chance to form a government. To the question of whether he would be prevented from forming a government, if he succeeds in bringing the ultra-Orthodox to the table of the coalition, Lieberman replied that “unequivocally yes. We will not join.” According to him, “For me, the most jarring thing is the wild competition between Gantz and Lapid for the hearts of Shas and Torah Judaism. I said and I still say now, they can form a government with Deri and Gafni, I won’t be there. There is no way that we can once again continue the trolling we saw.”
- Winter time 2022: when do you move the hands of the clock back one hour?
As I recall, the Minister of Finance attacked the Minister of Defense on his personal Twitter account, tweeting that “your fateful courting of Deri, Goldknopf and Gafni, and the government you dream of forming with them will not be established, as long as our home Israel is great and strong.”
Gantz, you are confused. It is also possible to be “Jewish in your soul” as you say, but also to support core studies, the advancement of education and employment in ultra-Orthodox society, to believe in “live and let live” and to oppose ultra-Orthodox coercion. Your fateful courting of Deri, Goldknopf and Gafni, and the government you dream of establishing with them will not be established, as long as our home Israel is great and strong. https://t.co/rWQLpGjfnJ
— Avigdor Liberman (@AvigdorLiberman) October 18, 2022
Lieberman published these words in response to Gantz’s interview on Shabbat Square, in which he said that “We are the only ones who are creating a state political bridge in the State of Israel. We are the political solution. Shas has sat with Meretz in the past, Lieberman has sat with the ultra-Orthodox in the past. I know Lieberman, the man fasts three times a year, his room is full of books, I don’t think he is not Jewish in his soul.”